Pacific Ocean. Credit: Copyright Michele Hogan Nature is declining globally at rates unprecedented in human history -- and the rate of species extinctions is accelerating, with grave impacts on people around the world now likely, warns a landmark new report from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), the summary of which…

Recognize this cube? It's one of the 664 uranium cubes from the failed nuclear reactor that German scientists tried to build in Haigerloch during World War II. Credit: John T. Consoli/University of Maryland Back in 2013, Timothy Koeth, an associate research professor at the University of Maryland, received a rather extraordinary birthday gift: a little…

The Indian Ocean is covered of boxes forming the Markov chain models constructed using satellite-tracked drifter buoys to describe the motion of marine debris produced by the crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370. Credit: Philippe Miron The 2014 disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 remains ones of the biggest mysteries in aviation. More than $150…

A classroom in Puerto Rico shows the damage from Hurricane Maria, which was a category 4 storm when it struck the US territory on September 20, 2017. Credit: Provided by Rosaura Orengo-Aguayo Psychologists from the Medical University of South Carolina have just published one of the largest post-disaster screening projects in U.S. history. The report,…

The new keyboard standard, created with a state-of-art-algorithm, makes typing in French easier and more comfortable. Credit: Mikko Raskinen/Aalto University Keyboards touch our everyday lives yet, despite the well-known drawbacks of current layouts used across the globe, the position of characters has largely remained the same. Researchers at Aalto University, as part of an international…

The cultivation of cocoa plants is often part of the sustainable production systems implemented by the participating communities. Credit: Copyright Renzo Giudice/Uni Bonn A few years ago, the Peruvian government launched a program to protect the rainforest. However, an analysis by the Center for Development Research (ZEF) at the University of Bonn shows that its…

How energy use demands change through different milestones in life. Credit: HOPE Project Individuals have as big a role to play in tackling climate change as major corporations but only if they can be encouraged to make significant lifestyle changes by effective government policy, a major new European study co-authored by a University of Sussex…

A new study from Monterey Bay Aquarium researchers studied the historical trade of tortoiseshell made from the carapaces of hawksbill turtles like the one pictured, which was photographed during a necropsy in Hawaii. Credit: Kyle Van Houtan/NOAA New research from the Monterey Bay Aquarium finds that historical tortoiseshell trade routes may have established the groundwork…

A dark-eyed junco, an American goldfinch, and a house finch feed on sunflower seeds on a snowy day. Bird watchers report that cold weather influences how much they feed birds, more so than time or money. Photo by Cynthia Raught. Credit: Virginia Tech People in many parts of the world feed birds in their backyards,…

A typical example of improved housing beside a mosquito-producing rice field in rural Tanzania, constructed using bricks, timber and iron sheeting plus netting screens fitted over the windows. Credit: IHI In an article published in Lancet Planetary Health, a team from Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) and the Ifakara Health Institute (IHI), provides evidence…